Working with Projects

As you develop an application, you work with a project to manage all the different files that make up the application. A project consists of:

Ø One project file that keeps track of all the components (.vbp).

Ø One file for each form (.frm).

Ø One binary data file for each form containing data for properties of controls on the form (.frx). These files are not editable and are automatically generated for any .frm file that contains binary properties, such as Picture or Icon.

Ø Optionally, one file for each class module (.cls).

Ø Optionally, one file for each standard module (.bas).

Ø Optionally, one or more files containing ActiveX controls (.ocx).

Ø Optionally, a single resource file (.res).

The project file is simply a list of all the files and objects associated with the project, as well as information on the environment options you set. This information is updated every time you save the project. All of the files and objects can be shared by other projects as well.

When you have completed all the files for a project, you can convert the project into an executable file (.exe): From the File menu, choose the Make project.exe command. With the Professional and Enterprise editions of Visual Basic, you can also create other types of executable files such as .ocx and .dll files. References in this chapter assume a standard .exe project.